I got ready and left the house at about 5:15 am for the drive out to Redlands. I arrived at just before 6 am at the same parking lot as last year, at the corner of Citrus Ave and Eureka St. After finding a suitable parking spot, I walked over to the AK Smiley Public Library to pick up my race packet. While the volunteer could've looked up my name, I searched for the registration email to provide her with my barcode. While I was searching, my friend Robert saw me. After being assigned a bib number, I met up with him over at the t-shirt pick-up spot at the other end of the tent. I told him that I was going to head over to the nearby Starbucks. Since we had at least an hour to pass, he decided to join me.
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
The Starbucks was just a few blocks north of the start line at the corner of Eureka St and Stuart Ave. It was right after crossing the train tracks. Per the usual, I hopped on the mobile app to place my order. I offered to add my friend's order, but he opted to do it the old fashion way and placed his order at the counter. I guess they prioritized walk-up orders ahead of mobile orders as he got his drink before I did. I ate my KIND protein bar with my grande pistachio latte. This routine has quickly become my new pre-race routine. We used their restroom before heading over to the race. One of the restrooms was marked as closed. However, we saw 2 employees use it, so we figured it was being reserved for employees.
Grande pistachio latte
"Restroom Closed" aka reserved for employees
We then walked back to the corner of Citrus Ave and Eureka St to catch the start of the 10k at 7 am. There was even one runner dressed up as a dinosaur! After the bulk of the participants went on through, we crossed the street to use one of the portapotties one last time before heading over to the start line. We ran into our fellow Half Fanatic friends from San Diego. After I was done, I went back to my car to ditch the jacket and to grab my handheld bottle. I wasn't really planning on lining up so far at the front of the corral, but all of my friends were already there.
10k start
Dinosaur!
Dan
The usual suspects
Having run this race in the past 2 years, I was well aware of the climbs for about the first 8 miles. Even after reaching the highest point of the course, there would still be some little climbs here and there. The first 2.5 miles or so were relatively flat and easy. The climbing would begin after a left turn onto Lakeside Ave. There would be some short sections where the course would flatten out a bit only for there to be some more climbing. We would get some longer stretches of downhill after merging onto Sunset Dr at about mile 7.5 into the race. It had been drizzling for a while already and my face was pretty wet. Shortly after being caught and passed by Robert, I had to remove my glasses as they were just sliding off of my face. I was pretty dang blind without my glasses, but I was able to follow the runner just ahead of me. The runners ahead of me were out of my very limited view as I made the turn onto Terracina Blvd at mile 10.5 into the race. The cones at Fern Ave were a bit confusing, but the volunteers at that aid station told me to keep heading straight ahead. I came to a complete stop for a brief second at Olive Ave as I couldn't read the sign. The volunteer told me to turn right, followed by an immediate left turn onto Chisholm Trail. Fortunately, there were a couple of runners that passed me so I was able to follow them. In the past 2 years, the climb up Bellevue Ave wiped me out. I had much better stamina this year, so I was able to cover that climb without feeling completely spent. Just as before, the last stretch along Olive Ave took what seemed to be an eternity! It seemed flat, but I would say that it was a very gradual incline all the way to the final turn onto Eureka St for the finish line.
Finish line
Finish: 1:55:58
Click here for my Garmin data.
I knew that I was in shape to finish in under 2 hours. It was just a matter of by how much. I guess I had become much better with my pacing given my current level of fitness as I managed to place 3rd in my age group. However, this was a small town race, so they were not giving out age group awards.
After receiving my finisher medal and getting some post race orange juice, I met up with Robert. We went over how our races turned out. This guy is a machine! He ran a marathon yesterday and I still finished almost 4 minutes behind him! He had to leave to meet up with his family, so we went our separate ways. After taking a quick selfie with the Smiley brothers, I went back to my car to change out of my wet shirt.
Finisher medal
Post race orange juice
Smiley brothers
I then walked over to the Breakfast Shack to get some breakfast. I used a portapotty along the way. That was a good call as the place was packed with a lot of people waiting outside. Before putting in my name on the waitlist, I messaged a couple of my friends as they had expressed wanting to get food after the race. Since I did not hear back from them, I put in for a party of one. I was hoping to get a spot at the counter without having to wait, but they were using those seats for groups as well. The wait ended up being about 45 minutes. From what I could tell, the place was usually busy on Sundays and it was exceptionally busy as it was packed with 5k/10k participants along with their family and friends. As I had expected, I ended up being seated at the counter. I started things off with coffee as I looked over the menu. I already knew that I wanted their steak and eggs, but still I wanted to see what they were offering. With the steak, medium rare and eggs, sunny-side up, I got their country potatoes and biscuit & gravy. The alternatives were hash brown and toast. Turned out to be great choices as both were very good, especially the biscuit & gravy! The steak was also cooked just right. This meal certainly hit the spot after running a challenging half marathon.
Kitchen
Coffee Bean
Steak and eggs with country potatoes, biscuit & gravy
Steak medium rare
After finishing my meal and paying for it, I used their restroom before heading back to my car. When I got home, I crossed paths with my parents. They were on their way out to pick up lunch and they had ordered food for me! Well, it's a darn good thing that I eat like a dang hobbit! Elevenses, check. Now, time for lunch! They ordered my favorite, the combination rice, from Mimi 5 Bobee. I wasn't sure if I could put away a large quantity of food as well as I used to, but apparently, I still could as I had little trouble finishing everything!
Combination rice
No comments:
Post a Comment